July 5, 2009
blocked
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People get “blocked”.
With their jobs, with their relationships, with their marketing, with their own passions and creativity…
And yes, with themselves. I’m as guilty as anyone. So are you.
So then the next question becomes, well, how do you become “unblocked”? How do you get your mojo back?
Wouldn’t it be great if somebody could invent a product– a book, for example, or maybe some audiotapes, or a three-day seminar, whatever– and all people would have to do is pull out their credit card, pay the fee, use the product once et Volia! Problem solved! Blockage removed!
Yes, that would be great, in theory. But knowing what I know from past experience, I’d recommend that if you ever meet somebody trying to sell you something like this, run away in the opposite direction. That fellow is selling you a bunch of psychobabble snake oil. Nobody can unblock you, but you.
Instead, read the following one-word quote. Unlike the snake oil, you can have it free of charge and yes, this actually works, every time:
Love.
So now you know…
[Update: Just added this blog post to “EVIL PLANS”.
[Backstory: About Hugh. Twitter. Newsletter. Book. Interview One. Interview Two. Limited Edition Prints. Private Commissions. Cube Grenades.“EVIL PLANS”.]
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Tags: Gapingvoid philosophy, Love, Philosophy and Society
How true this is — I actually saw about 4 books last week (when I was doing my research for an article) that all claimed they were the answer to unblocking creativity or writer’s block problems. I think you have a much better answer here…
Funny, LSD always worked for me.
Nice one, Hugh.
Or to put it another way via St. Augustine (of all ppl):
“It doth make a difference whence cometh a man’s joy.”
Yes, life is a recursive acid trip. Really. No, really! When a person consumes the rather inneressin’ material called ‘Salvia’, this is the one salient point that comes through in the exact same way — for all of them.
On more sober note, what led me here was the finding of your book at the local bookstore..all the way up in Canada.
It’s good! Relevant. A ‘Pinchbeck’ kinda relevant.
A bit thin …but a workable reality don’t need thick. It merely needs a way past thick. Cuz when it’s pressed, and it’s thin, and it’s stretched..then it finally begins to work itself into something.
funny, i was considering getting a set of Oblique Strategies the other day… then decided it was just another prop to form an obstruction/distraction from the actual hard work…
So true.
I think you have Gever Tulley’s technique of ‘decorating’ (http://tinyurl.com/o9hwql) as a way to unblock literally down to an art form.
[…] Er zijn over dit onderwerp tientallen boeken geschreven – ironisch niet, schrijven over dat je niet weet wat je moet schrijven – en nu dus weer een log. Zo ook door blogger van het eerste uur Hugh MacLeod. Volgens hem moet je je niet wenden tot seminars over writer’s blocks of boeken die je verderop willen helpen. De oplossing laat zich volgens hem in één woord samenvatten. De Beatles zeiden het ook al. Alles wat je nodig hebt, is liefde. […]